Long Island Housing Market Shows First Signs Of Cooling

LONG ISLAND, NY — Long Island's housing prices fell slightly in September, coming down from the record-high prices that were set in August. It could mean that the red-hot market that the area has had for more than a year may finally be starting to cool.

Home sales stopped last spring due to lockdown measures for the coronavirus pandemic. When sales resumed in the summer, low inventory and high demand for homes created a hot seller's market. Home prices kept going up and up, reaching historic highs. The median sales price topped out at $670,000 in Nassau County and $530,000 in Suffolk in August.

But new data from OneKey Multiple Listing Service shows those prices are starting to come down. According to September sales data, the median sales price in Nassau dipped slightly to $665,000. Suffolk dropped to $525,000.

While it's not a huge drop, the pending median sales prices show a somewhat sharper decline. The pending median price in Nassau is $635,000 and in Suffolk is $520,000. However, those numbers could still be very different from what the actual prices are come next month.

The number of home sold in September was also down, both month-to-month and year-over-year. There were 1,344 sales in Nassau and 1,629 in Suffolk for September, down from 1,612 and 1,771 the month before. September 2020 saw 1,439 sales in Nassau and 1,825 in Suffolk.